Kansas City Royals - PlayerWatch

September 30, 2013|Reuters

LHP Noel Arguelles (groin) is scheduled to pitch in the Arizona Fall League. He was called up from the minors and placed on the 60-day disabled list Sept. 3.

RHP Greg Holland logged his 47th save, a franchise record, in the 4-1 season-ending victory over the White Sox. Holland, however, did make it interesting. He gave up two singles and a walk to load the bases before striking out the final two batters. Those two strikeouts brought Holland's total to 103, which tied Jim York for the most strikeouts by a Royals' reliever in a season. York struck out 103 in 1971.

RHP Yordano Ventura only got three starts for Royals manager Ned Yost to assess, but the highly-touted rookie didn't hurt his chances of making the starting rotation out of spring training next season. Ventura displayed all four of his pitches, including his high-velocity fastball and knee-buckling curve. "He'll definitely come in and compete next year for a spot in our rotation," Yost said. "He's pretty close. He's got four quality pitches, he throws them all for strikes, he's got great composure, he's a young kid with a lot of confidence and he's got a chance to become a real nice, productive starting pitcher."

C Salvador Perez made his first career start at first base Sept. 29. While Perez hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning and went 3-for-4, he also committed a fielding error, misplaying a foul pop up. Perez had been taking ground balls at first base and is athletic enough to play there, but he will be back behind the plate when next season starts.

LHP Bruce Chen, who began the season in the bullpen before going back into the rotation, picked up his ninth victory in the season finale at Chicago. Chen, who was the 2012 Opening Day starter, had posted double-figure victories in his previous three seasons. He has won 44 games the past four seasons.

C Brett Hayes went 1-for-4 and hit his first home run in a Royals uniform -- and first since Sept. 21, 2011 in a 4-1 win against the Chicago White Sox on Sunday afternoon at U.S. Cellular Field. Hayes hadn't played since Sept. 5 against the Seattle Mariners and said the home run was a good feeling. "A homer any time is good," Hayes said.

RHP James Shields racked up most of his wins this season in the second half of the schedule, but Royals manager Ned Yost thinks the full body of work was exactly what he wanted to get after Kansas City acquired Shields from Tampa Bay last December in a blockbuster deal. "He had a good year altogether," Yost said. "His first-half numbers, people get fixated on the won-loss record, but he ended up leading the league in innings pitched. I think he led all of baseball in quality starts and you don't just do that in the second half. He's given us a consistent body of work from the first day on."

3B Mike Moustakas finished 22nd among 23 third basemen who played at least 124 games last season with a .651 OPS and .364 slugging percentage. Compare Moustakas' 12 home runs and 42 RBIs in 472 at-bats to discarded Royal Yuniesky Betancourt, who hit 13 home runs with 46 RBIs in 388 at-bats with the Brewers. Moustakas is going to play winter ball in Venezuela in hopes of rediscovering his stroke. He will play for Cardenales de Lara, the team which Royals hitting coach Pedro Grifol manages.

1B Eric Hosmer protected his .302 batting average by sitting out the final game. Even if Hosmer had gone 0-for-5, his average would have rounded up to .300, so there was little danger of him falling below that. Hosmer had one home run and 16 RBIs on June 1, but added 16 HRs and 63 RBIs after that.